Footprints: Blame poverty, not the people

FAMILIES affected by the tragic Kahna roof collapse say poverty, rather than any one person, was responsible for the incident that claimed the lives of 14 children, even as several other youngsters and their teacher remain under treatment at a local hospital.

Hassan, a labourer and resident of the same run-down street where the roof-collapse occurred on June 30, lost his youngest son, five-year-old Arkam.

“We have forgiven the teacher for the death of our son,” he said, while sitting outside her home.

Anila, the teacher, taught children from the locality aged between five and 14. She and her daughter were also injured in the roof collapse.

Bereaved parents say they have ‘forgiven the teacher’; blame unsafe housing conditions for the disaster that claimed their children’s lives

Their small home is located in the Basti Eid Gah locality, referred to locally as the Aluwali Gali on Katchwana Road, off Ferozepur Road.

Four days after the incident, when I visited on Saturday, the house was empty as some of the male members of the home had been arrested while other women of the house had left after the incident.

Life in the slums

The whole locality comprises half-built homes, similar to the one that housed the ill-fated tuition centre. The narrow, winding street leads to a wider road that leads to the Katchwana village in Kahna.

“Most people here are very poor and build their homes slowly whenever they get some money to afford it,” said a local resident.

Other residents added that the Katchwana Road was supposed to be a 50-foot-wide road linking up to Ferozepur Road.

“This might not be the last tragedy in this area as many people have occupied the sewage drain and built houses on top of it,” said the resident.

Locals said that most houses were built here over the past two decades, and many residents have large families living together in small homes. “Some construct extensions to their homes when they get a chance,” a local said, adding that the home of the teacher where the incident occurred was no different.

“We are trying to just survive,” the local added.

Remembering his son, Hassan said that he wanted to study and was yet to join a school.

“To prepare him for the school, we sent him to the tuition in the neighbourhood. My other children are not interested in studying and Arkam’s older brother does not go to school as he is training to be a tailor. He [Arkam] wanted to become a police officer,” he said.

Hassan told me that before this tragedy, a child had been injured by a falling tile, and the mason working on the house, as well as other children, had asked the teacher to send them home.

“She did not listen to them and we lost our children,” he regretted, saying the family was doing the construction work on their own and there was only one labourer involved.

Official action

On Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz visited the locality and offered condolences to the families. She also met the bereaved parents and said that the grief she felt upon receiving news of the children’s deaths was beyond words.

After the incident, various government departments sprang into action, with Lahore police taking two persons, including the owner of the property, into custody. DIG Operations Faisal Kamran said the contractor who constructed the house was also among those detained.

On Saturday, Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat announced that unregistered academies and schools would be shut down. He said the district education authority had begun issuing notices to unregistered schools and tuition centres.

However, many question how the government plans to register hundreds of thousands of home-based tuition centres and academies.

Talking to Dawn, All Pakistan Private School Management Association President Kashif Adeeb Jawadani said that most home-based academies were run by female teachers in each and every neighbourhood of the province.

“Due to socio-economic reasons of both — the teachers and parents — such tuition centres and academies are the only option for the poor,” he said, adding that instead of threatening people with fines and cases, the government should have taken a more measured approach.

“I believe the government should have opted for a grace period, free registration and in the long-term, access to loans and financial support for such educationalists… If such educational institutions along with low-fee private schools are shut down, what alternative is being provided by the government?” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2026 ...